HPV Champion and Childhood Blindness Researcher Honoured
THIS MEDIA RELEASE WAS PREPARED BY THE NATIONAL HEALTH AND MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL (NHMRC) AND FIRST APPEARED ON WWW.NHMRC.GOV.AU/MEDIA.
Twenty of Australia’s finest health and medical researchers have been honoured at the National Health and Medical Research Council’s (NHMRC) annual Research Excellence Awards in Canberra.
The prestigious awards recognise recent outstanding performance in the health and medical research field.
Among those honoured are Dr Lisa Whop receiving the Rising Star Award and Associate Professor James Bourne receiving the Marshall and Warren Award.
The Rising Star Award celebrates the achievements of an Indigenous early career researcher, while the Marshall and Warren Award honours the most innovative project which could change the way an illness or disease is diagnosed, treated or prevented.
Dr Whop is renowned for her work in improving the rates of cervical cancer screening in Indigenous Australian women, follow-up care and the uptake and completion of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) immunisation among the younger population.
“Significant inequalities persist in cervical cancer rates among Indigenous Australian women despite a national prevention program through cervical screening and HPV vaccination,” Dr Whop said.
“My research has a strong focus on overcoming knowledge deficits and the translation of new information into key policy and practice improvements.”
Associate Professor Bourne has focused his research in better understanding the complex circuits between the brain and eye, in order to help those recovering from brain injury as well as children experiencing difficulty with their vision.
“Our research will also help children who start to show early signs of movement and vision problems, in explaining why they may be experiencing those problems and how we might help them in overcoming these challenges,” he explained. NHMRC CEO, Professor Anne Kelso said every scientist honoured this evening has presented the highest quality research application for their grant category as determined by independent expert review panels.
“Considering NHMRC received over 5,400 applications last year, these are truly great achievements,” she said.
NHMRC is the leading national investor in health and medical research, dedicated to advancing health and medical knowledge to improve the lives and wellbeing of all Australians. NHMRC has been Australia’s government body for supporting health and medical research since 1937.